Dear Friends,
This summer, I’m riding in the Courage Classic to support Team Climb for Coop, and I want to tell you why this ride matters so deeply to me.
Cooper Deming was the son of my dear friend Amy Hudson, a friendship that has lasted more than 40 years. Cooper was the same age as my daughter, who is graduating from WWU this year. Their lives should have continued to unfold side by side. Instead, Cooper’s life was cut short by DIPG, an aggressive pediatric brain cancer that is invariably fatal.
DIPG has had essentially the same ineffective treatment since the 1960s. When Neil Armstrong’s daughter died of the same tumor decades ago, she received almost the exact same treatment Cooper did. That’s how little progress has been made.
But for the first time in generations, there is real hope.
Recent breakthroughs have shown that DIPG can be cured in mouse models, and a new rule change now allows more funding to go directly to researchers—the people who are pushing the science forward. After decades of stagnation, momentum is finally building.
That’s why I’m riding. And that’s why I’m asking for your support.
Your donation today will help fund the research that could finally change the future for kids diagnosed with DIPG. It honors Cooper’s memory, supports families facing the unthinkable, and fuels the work that may one day turn “invariably fatal” into “treatable.”
If you’re able, please consider making a gift. Every mile I ride is for Cooper and every dollar you give brings us closer to the breakthroughs children deserve.
With gratitude,
John
